


Not Going Back

by Rasiaa



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Road Trip, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-13
Updated: 2018-04-15
Packaged: 2019-04-22 15:37:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,491
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14311872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rasiaa/pseuds/Rasiaa
Summary: "Ran away from my family. Bounty hunters. I hated the job, hated my drunken father, and hated the lifestyle. Figured I'd be better off alone."Gabriel whistles. "Damn, kid. You and I have a lot in common then, because I just did the same thing, but at least I had the sense to take my car."Sam laughs, throwing his head back. "Yeah, okay. Only had one car and if I'd touched it, my brother would kill me. I packed what I had."Gabriel pokes the backpack and the duffle bag with his foot with raised eyebrows. "That's it?""Yup."Another shake of his head. "Kid, you're not gonna make it.""Then at least I'll die with a clean-ish conscience," Sam says with a shrug.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Love the concept. Wrote what I had. Figured I'd get an opinion on it.  
> I really really really want to make this a multi-chapter. Probably won't be very long.  
> But of course, I'm going to need to scour the earth for a plot here, beyond the obvious. There always has to be some underlying tension, some kind of problem they have to keep running from, and their families aren't what I want to focus on. They're gone. Done. Gabriel and Sam. That'll be it. Original characters to keep the plot going but I don't want anyone else here.  
> I'll keep thinking.  
> If this goes forward, I will up the rating. Teen and up is not the kind of stuff I really write for Supernatural beyond my Dean/Cas fluffy one-shots.  
> Oooh. Now I've got it. I really think I do.  
> Maybe.  
> Again, we'll see.  
> Damn. I'm rambling on. Sorry, heh. Read on!

Okay, now that he's six hours into this, he can admit that it was a colossally bad idea. Like, astronomically bad. The kind of bad that you can't ever come back from.

He raises his hand to block the setting sun from his eyes and sighs. The sign in front of him is huge; it makes it hard to read since it's designed to aid drivers on a highway. It's bright and reflective and he's tired. So fucking tired. And the sign proclaims that the next city is twenty miles away and the hotel three miles into that city.

He knows for a fact that trying to get to that hotel will take him a little over a full twenty four hours on foot if he's lucky. He kind of wants to cry.

He turns and watches the empty stretch of the two-lane highway. The sign a mile back said the speed limit was eighty. Makes sense, since he's in the middle of bumbfuck nowhere. He's been walking on the side of this road for the past two and a half hours and this was probably the biggest mistake of his entire life.

A run down truck is speeding down the road, and since it's the only bit of movement and interest for miles, he watches it, detached. He barely realizes that it's slowed to a stop a few feet behind him on the corner, and the driver's door has swung open.

A young, short blond walks over, using his hand much the way he himself was. "You okay?" the man asks, sounding strangely concerned.

He nods, looking around. Desert, for miles and miles and miles, so he figures he's not really all that okay, and the cold is setting in. He turns back to the blond and smiles thinly. The blond smiles back, laughing with a shake of his head. "Com'on, gigantor, I can take you to the next town."

"What?" he asks, incredulous. "No, I'm okay."

The man fixes him with a look, then pointedly looks at the sign. He flushes in response. The blond points to his truck. "In. Now."

"I could be a serial killer," he points out, but follows nonetheless, the offer of heating and a seat and a hotel for the night too much to resist.

The man snorts. "Yeah, okay. You're a half-starved teenager wandering the side of the highway in the middle of Texas in October. This highway gets maybe fifty cars a day on it, and that's generous. If you were a serial killer, you'd be at a rest stop sixty miles away."

And yeah, he has a point. They climb into the car, and as the blond revs the engine, he says, "I'm Sam."

"Gabriel," the blond says. "Hope you like country music because I sure as hell won't play anything else."

Sam snickers. "Yeah, that's fine."

"Good."

He cranks the radio and speeds off down the highway, the speedometer climbing rapidly. "How'd you end up on the side of the road?" Gabriel asks, glancing at him quickly before looking back forward.

Sam shrugs, putting his backpack at his feet. "Ran away from my family. Bounty hunters. I hated the job, hated my drunken father, and hated the lifestyle. Figured I'd be better off alone."

Gabriel whistles. "Damn, kid. You and I have a lot in common then, because I just did the same thing, but at least I had the sense to take my car."

Sam laughs, throwing his head back. "Yeah, okay. Only had one car and if I'd touched it, my brother would kill me. I packed what I had."

Gabriel pokes the backpack and the duffle bag with his foot with raised eyebrows. "That's it?"

"Yup."

Another shake of his head. "Kid, you're not gonna make it."

"Then at least I'll die with a clean-ish conscience," Sam says with a shrug. "Don't really care."

Now it's Gabriel's turn to be incredulous. "Dude."

"What?"

Gabriel is silent, the only sound the woman singing over the radio and the faint hum of Gabriel's truck. Sam looks out the window, watching the desert, rabidly darkening, speed by. Then, "what do you say we stick together?"

Sam turns to look at his new companion. He frowns a little, remembering what they say about trusting strangers, but then he thinks about Gabriel's remark about how he wasn't going to make it and figures, hey, why not, he'll die young if he's alone or if this man wants to kill him. So he says, "yeah, sure," and pretends he can't see the way Gabriel perks up.

The truck makes a slight turn off the exit ramp.

…

Gabriel throws a suitcase into the hotel room they're sharing, dropping onto the bed with a content sigh.

The hotel had one room left, since it's a tourist town and they're the only one here. So they're sharing a king sized bed, and while Sam is mildly concerned, that begins to dissipate as he watches Gabriel stretch like a cat over the duvet. It's more amusing than anything, really.

Sam drops his duffle and backpack onto the table, grabbing his sleepwear and yanking off his shirt without another thought.

Gabriel sits up quickly with a little shout, eyes wide. Sam pauses, thumbs hooked into the edge of his jeans, and looks at him expectantly. Gabriel's face turns pick, and he shifts. "Shouldn't you - you, ah, you do that in the bathroom?" he asks, voice higher than normal. Sam stares.

"I've never changed in the bathroom in my life," he says flatly. "What, does it bother you?"

If it were possible, Gabriel turns even pinker, hands clenching in the sheets. "Um. Kinda?"

"Dude, we're sharing a bed, a car, and every ounce of cash we can scrounge up for the foreseeable future," Sam points out, and then yanks his jeans down, stepping out of them. "We should get over any awkwardness now, unless you want to throw me out."

Gabriel's gaping at him. Sam huffs with laughter, tugging up his sweatpants and a shirt that he managed to find that's too big on him. It hangs off his shoulder and it's more comfortable than anything that might've been form-fitting, so he has about six of them in different colors and uses them as pajama shirts.

"You gonna change?" Sam asks, raising his eyebrows.

Gabriel blots out of the bed like he's got a gun aimed at him, grabbing his suitcase and slamming the bathroom door behind him. Sam looks at it steadily but shrugs, figuring that he'll have enough time to become used to the blond's habits.

He climbs into the bed, the events of the day wearing down on him.

He can't believe he did it. He finally ran away.

Gabriel comes out of the bathroom wearing soft pink pajama pants with peeps on them with a matching pink shirt. He's slow and he's avoiding Sam's eyes, fiddling with his suitcase until he has nothing left to do to it. Then he stares at it, shoulders hunched. He eventually makes his way over, head still down, and climbs into the bed, as far from Sam as possible.

Sam isn't sure if it's just nerves or if Gabriel is suddenly just as confused as he is, but he lies down, looking at Gabriel's back.

He falls asleep like that.

…

The sun is hitting his eyelids and he groans a little, leaning away from it. He buries his face into the soft hair tucked into his shoulder and relaxes for a full minute before he realizes.

Gabriel is making soft huffy noises in his sleep, curled next to Sam and clingy. It's a stark difference to how they went to bed, but Sam doesn't really mind. He smiles faintly, tightening his hold on the blond and grabbing the remote to the TV.

He keeps it on low, some soap opera flashing across the static screen. He watches it, but his mind is on the man in his arms. He met him yesterday, doesn't even know his last name or anything about him beyond the fact that he's a runaway like Sam is with a car and fluffy pink pajamas.

The thought is incredibly funny and kind of sad, but he's got to be honest when he admits to himself that this is the best sleep he's had in years. He leans his head on Gabriel's, closing his eyes.

The hour-long episode of the soap opera ends and the next one is halfway over before Gabriel stirs. He curls closer to Sam with a yawn, and he kind of lays there for a moment before he jolts away.

"Oh, god," Gabriel says, "I'm so sorry."

"I've been up for nearly two hours. Do you think I mind?" Sam asks. Gabriel flounders but then just gets out of bed and walks over to the suitcase.

"I'll get a shower," he mumbles, and shuts himself into the bathroom again.

Sam sighs, running his hand through his hair. His first instinct now is to check his phone but then he remembers burying it not long after he left, battery broken and tossed into a river so he couldn't be tracked. He purses his lips with a sigh, looking around. The motel room is fairly nice, nicer than what he's used to, and he spots a menu for room service. He considers it for a half a second then dismisses the idea, knowing full well that with the thousand dollars they have between them they can't waste it.

He really needs to find money, and fast.

Sam is looking for his fake id when Gabriel comes out of the bathroom. "Hey," Sam mumbles, tossing various cards across the bed with a frown. He's upended all his stuff, and now he's worried he's lost it.

"Hey," Gabriel says. "What are you doing?"

"Need my fake id," he says, "so we can hustle money at the bar."

"You're kidding," Gabriel states, voice flat. Sam glances up, shaking his head.

"People are amazingly stupid. You lose at least twice before laying it all on the line and then you pull out all the stops and take everything. Can't tell you how many times I've wiped bars clean doing it."

"You're, what? Seventeen?"

Sam looks up, faintly insulted. "I'm nineteen," he corrects.

"Whatever," Gabriel wave this off, but Sam can tell some kind of weight has lifted off his shoulders. "You're still too young to be in bars-"

"Hence the fake id," Sam interrupts, then turns his wallet over and watches all his credit cards, cash, and various ids fall onto the bed. Sam swipes through them then holds one up. "Ha! There it is," he says, beaming. "I can make you one if you need it."

"I'm twenty five," Gabriel says. "So I'm good."

Sam pulls a face. "You're running away from home and you're _twenty five?_ "

Gabriel snorts. "Kid, you have no idea the kind of family I've got. Freaks, the lot of them. I had to get outta dodge before they married me off to some rich girl like it's the fucking sixteen hundreds. My harpy mother had the contracts signed and everything. I don't even know her name."

"Seriously?" Sam makes a face and starts piling everything back into his wallet. "That's stupid."

"I think so too. So, here I am. Been driving for six days now."

Sam makes another face. "Yikes. I'm sorry, dude."

Gabriel shrugs. "It's over now. I'm not going back."

Sam meets his eyes over the space between them and something seems to resonate. "Yeah. I'm not either," he says, and it feels like a turning point. He's closed the book on his childhood and is nose diving into adulthood riding on a stranger's kindness and two bags of stuff that he can call his own.

It's the most thrilling and frightening thing he's ever done, and he has a feeling he'll love every second of it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wal-Mart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This got better reception than I expected, so thank you all dearly. Here's some more.

Gabriel stares at the wad of cash Sam is holding out to him, eyes wide and mouth open.

Sam snorts, making the other man jolt and declare, "you're the breadwinner."

He rolls his eyes and climbs into the truck, opening his wallet to stuff the cash inside. Gabriel hands him what he'd made in the casino, and now - Sam counts out the cash - they've got nearly four grand. Sam, of course, made a little more than half of that, but hey.

Whatever.

"Where to now?" Gabriel asks, pulling out of the parking spot. He nearly gets nailed, so there's a brief bit of swearing and honking the horn. He scowls and peals out of the lot grumbling under his breath about how everyone in Texas has "a fucking ego the size of the state."

Sam waits until he's relatively calm before he says, "we need a Wal-Mart. We need non-perishables and blankets and other stuff that we can use long-term." He pauses. "They usually have a place selling cell phones in the Wal-Mart or nearby, too. I need one."

Gabriel throws his hands up. "How'd you even think of this stuff, kid?"

"Bounty hunter, remember? I've been living out of hotel rooms my entire life."

There's silence. Gabriel just nods, reaching for the radio. He turns it up and something about him seems vacant, in that moment. Sam doesn't stare, or anything, but he senses the change in atmosphere, and he has to wonder what caused it.

They drive for several miles, and the worst part of it is that the scenery never changes. It's the one thing that Sam hates about the south; everything looks the same until you leave it, and even then it takes a long time for the changes to really set in. So he drifts off, not really thinking about much of anything.

"Want to play twenty questions?"

Sam, abruptly yanked from his headspace, looks at Gabriel, then shrugs. "Why not?"

There's a wicked grin on his face then. "Okay, okay. We'll start off easy. Last name?"

"Winchester," he answers, then repeats the question.

"Novak. Favorite color?"

Sam rolls his eyes. "Don't have one."

"What? Blasphemy. Mine's pink, I dunno if you figured that one out."

"Maybe," Sam agrees with a small smile.

"Whatever. It's your turn."

"Uh. Okay. Where are you from?"

"Portland, Oregon. Nothing special up there, really, but at least the beach was nice. How about you?"

"I was born in Kansas. Spent a grand total of six months there before my mom died in a house fire, then my dad became a privately contracted bounty hunter and we never went back for any significant amount of time."

Gabriel lets out a low whistle. "Sounds rough."

"I've never known anything else," Sam says, unconcerned. "Did you ever go to college?"

"Pfft. No. Never wanted to. Since you're nineteen I bet you didn't either."

"Nope."

Gabriel nods. "You said you had a brother? What's he like?"

"Dean's four years older. He raised me. Likes mullet rock, his car, and his weapons. He's better at gambling than I am. Loves to read. More fussy than he'd ever let on, more tame and not really as much of an asshole as he'd like you to believe."

"What, is he overcompensating, or something?"

"No. He just doesn't want a beating from our father. He took plenty on my behalf, and really didn't need his own transgressions on top of it."

Gabriel grimaces. "You've got a darling family, there."

"Oh, yeah," Sam agrees. "They're great. What about yours? Your mother obviously sucks, but…"

"She's a bitch, yeah. I'm number four out of eight kids. My older brothers are all dicks, too. My younger siblings aren't as bad, but my parents didn't have as much of a hand in raising them as I did. It's just noisy, and there's no such thing as getting alone time."

"Ugh," Sam grumbles, disgusted. "Guess we both win for shitty families."

"Guess so. Oh, look. There's a Wal-Mart."

Sam's slammed into the door. He scrambles a bit, shrieking. Gabriel laughs manically, the dick. He pulls into a parking spot with alarming speed and irritating accuracy, yanking on the emergency brake and putting the truck into park. "Com'on, gigantor!" he calls cheerfully, jumping out of the truck.

Sam allows himself a second to reflect on his life, seeing as it just flashed before his eyes. Gabriel yanks the door open and hops into his lap to undo the seatbelt. "I said come on, dude."

Sam, startled, rests his hands automatically on the smaller man's waist. Gabriel looks up, the energy he'd exhibited mere seconds ago gone. The whole world seems to fall away as their eyes meet, and all Sam can think is a mixture of, holy fuck he's adorable, and this is the most cliché thing that's ever happened to him.

Gabriel shifts a little, looking nervous, so Sam just leans in.

It's chaste and brief, but it sends Sam's heart racing. Gabriel shudders a little in his arms, tilting his head for a better angle, and kisses him back.

Sam really wants to keep going but he pulls away and says, "We're in a Wal-Mart parking lot."

Gabriel blinks, looking a little disoriented. "Okay," he says, and gets out of the truck.

Sam grabs his wallet, pulling all but three hundred out and stuffing it into a little bag that he then puts into another bag, then buries in the bottom of his duffle. He gets out and shuts the door. Gabriel locks it and Sam takes his hand, walking to the entrance.

He knows that Gabriel's looking up at him, but he doesn't pull his hand away, so Sam doesn't let go.

Not until they reach the carts and Gabriel grabs one, anyway. The blond beams at him wickedly, walking fast into the supermarket. Sam loses him fairly quickly. He rolls his eyes.

He heads into the McDonald's and orders two large drinks, filling one with diet for himself and one with sprite for Gabriel. He eventually finds the older man staring at candy, having already found a bunch and put them in the cart. 

"You're kidding me, right?" Sam asks, enjoying how he jumps. He hands him the drink, and Gabriel takes it, bemused. "You don't need candy."

"You're not my mom," Gabriel retorts. "I've been without it for a week. I'm not going another day."

Sam looks at him. "How old are you, five?"

"Haven't been five for many years, child," Gabriel says, waving his finger at him. Sam snorts, shaking his head.

"Whatever. You've got enough. Let's get things we actually need, okay?"

"Kill joy," Gabriel scoffs. He nevertheless follows when Sam heads for real food.

He grabs stuff that seems to insult Gabriel just by existing. Cans of vegetables and fruit, crackers, applesauce, cereal. He perks up when Sam reaches for pudding, so Sam just rolls his eyes and grabs much more than he'd like. He grabs a shitton of beef jerky for some measure of protein, which is another thing that Gabriel doesn't seem to mind so much.

They then head over to actual stuff. Gabriel takes this opportunity to hop onto the cart and nearly ram into a display. Gabriel laughs and laughs, but Sam is a little freaked out. "Dude. We don't need you killing yourself," he says.

"At a Wal-Mart with a shopping cart?" Gabriel laughs. "What a way to go!"

"Indeed," Sam says dryly. "Now-"

But Gabriel's gone.

He's hanging around a child, he swears.

"Gabriel?" he calls, looking around.

He didn't even hear him leave.

He starts peering down aisles, more confused with every passing minute.

"Hey, gigantor."

He jumps, turning around, finding Gabriel standing there with one of the stuffed toys he must've found from a seasonal aisle. "What the fuck?" he asks.

"What?" Gabriel asks, and he sounds genuinely confused, like he doesn't know what's going on.

"Where did you go? How did you even manage to go anywhere? And why do you have a stuffed animal?"

Gabriel grins. "I like stuffed animals," he says, putting it in the cart. Sam gapes at him. "Do we have everything?"

"You - what? You just-"

"Cat got your tongue?" Gabriel jokes, taking Sam's hand and dragging him. "I grabbed blankets and stuff too - a thing of silverware, a thing of like, ten plates, that sort of thing, plus some food that we can actually eat that, you know, doesn't have to be something that makes us seem like we're homeless."

"But we are homeless," Sam says stupidly, following Gabriel to the checkout line. He really did seem to grab everything they might need, Sam notices, which is absolutely baffling because he was gone for like, two minutes. He even found more duffle bags to carry it all.

"We don't have to appear homeless, though," he says. He stands in line and waves some shampoo in Sam's face. "That shit in hotels is nasty."

He starts loading things onto the conveyor belt. He gives Sam a pointed look and Sam scrambles to help, wondering how in the hell Gabriel found all this stuff.

"I've been finding it while we walked around, kid," Gabriel says, like he's reading Sam's mind. He holds a first aid kit in hand. "Don't you remember just walking?"

"Well, yeah, but-"

"You're clueless," Gabriel says.

Sam feels like he might be right.

"Are you moving in together?" the checkout lady asks kindly, scanning things.

"Road trip," Gabriel says. "We met, like, two days ago. Picked him up on the side of the highway. He looked like he was about to die."

"Dude," Sam starts, insulted, but the lady just starts laughing.

"Right," she says. "So where are you going?"

"No idea!" Gabriel grins, way too cheerful for the reality of that statement.

"You don't know?" she asks, now looking appropriately shocked. "How can you not know?"

"Like I said, we only met like two days ago. Haven't thought that far ahead yet, but boy scout here figured we actually needed stuff to survive, which is boring."

"Okay," she says. "Well, then. $298.64."

Sam looks incredulously at Gabriel, who just winks at him cheekily. Sam scowls and pulls out all three hundreds he had in his wallet. He hands them to the woman and Gabriel leans over and kisses him briefly, "thanks," he says.

"Whatever," Sam mumbles, taking the change and stuffing it into his pocket. "I want a refill on this," he says, shaking his McDonald's cup. Gabriel nods in agreement. He calls a goodbye to the woman and takes off, making Sam regret giving him a sugar rush.

They get their refills then head to the truck. Gabriel flat out refuses to put anything in the back of said truck, and just stuffs everything into the "back seat" of the truck. There really are seats back there, but it's too small for Sam. By the time everything is piled in there, it's completely full. Sam huffs and kicks his duffle and backpack further under his seat.

"I still need a phone," Sam says, "so let's go to the T-Mobile there." He points to it, on the other side of the lot, and Gabriel shrugs.

"Fine," he agrees.

Sam signs a contract under a fake name and pays for the phone in full with a fake credit card he got in the mail three days before he left his family. He also pays for the first two years of full service.

Once he's back in the truck with Gabriel he says, "And they will never see another dime from me."

Gabriel snorts and they take off, heading for the highway.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Moving on

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel really sad about this one. Left it on a sad note. My favorite so far, though.

The next hotel they stay in has more than one room open but Gabriel just asks for a single king again. Sam doesn't say anything about it, figuring that this is how it's gonna go, and it could be a hell of a lot worse.

"So, really, where are we going?" Gabriel asks, putting Sam's new phone number into his contact's list.

Sam shrugs. "Away. Don't really care where we go."

Gabriel sinks into the bed next to Sam and hands his phone back. "North?" he suggests. "Like, way north? I don't like this heat."

"Sure," Sam says. "Wherever you want to go, as long as you want me, I'll be there. Nowhere else to go, no one to see, and you're pretty awesome."

"Aw, shucks," Gabriel says, grinning slyly and snuggling up to Sam.

Sam laughs, wrapping his arm around Gabriel, leaning down to kiss his forehead. "Who even says that anymore?" he asks.

"I do," is the response, "on special occasions."

He laughs again, leaning down for a proper kiss this time, one that Gabriel gives willingly. It's kind of amazing. He met him three days ago, and now they're sharing a hotel bed and making out. He cups Gabriel's cheek and moves him so Gabriel is on top and Sam can wrap his arms around him. Gabriel smiles into the kiss.

Sam nuzzles Gabriel's cheek and leans back, keeping his hold loose. "So. North?"

"North," Gabriel repeats. "Like, Alaska or something."

"One of the two states I've never been to," Sam says. "Sounds like a plan to me."

"Can we stop in Quebec and Toronto and Montreal and Vancouver?"

Sam can't help but lean in for another kiss. "Of course."

…

They make it out of Texas four days later.

Seeing the welcome sign for Oklahoma is one of the best things Sam has ever seen, he's sure of it.

Gabriel actually cheers, laughing exhaustedly. "Thank god! This road trip thing is not as luxurious as they make it out to be."

"Heh. No fucking kidding. I hate it."

"Can't wait for Alaska, then."

"Can't wait," Sam agrees. "Wish we could teleport."

"Ooh, that would be nice. No more driving for like, twelve hours."

Sam glances at him. "I can drive, if you'd like."

Gabriel sends him a grateful look. "Oh, would you?"

"Yeah."

Gabriel pulls over and they do a Chinese fire drill. Sam feels claustrophobic immediately, searching for the crank to send the seat back. When he finds it, he lets out a sigh of relief and adjusts the steering wheel next. "Dude," Gabriel says, curling up in the passenger seat. "It's going to take forever for me to get that right again."

Sam shrugs, staring at the mirror out of the corner of his eye so he can see properly while driving. "Yeah, well, if I can't be comfortable and can't see while driving, we're fucked."

"To hell with your comfort."

"Fuck you," Sam says, and pulls out onto the highway.

Gabriel laughs breathlessly, resting his head on the armrest. He stares out the windshield, though Sam has to wonder how he can even see anything. The only way Sam knows for sure that he can is that he'll make comments on the scenery or the signs every once in a while.

About six hours later, it's about eight pm, and Gabriel proclaims that he's starving.

Sam jerks his thumb at the back seat and ignores him.

Gabriel doesn't move but falls silent for about twenty minutes.

"Gigantor."

Sam hums, glancing into his blind spot before changing lanes.

"Let's get off."

"What? Why? We can go another two to four hours."

"You don't want to walk? Besides, even if you can drive for another two to four hours, the amount of gas in the tank says the truck cannot."

Sam looks down for a second and swears, getting back into the right lane and then the exit while Gabriel laughs at him.

"You're a dick," Sam tells him.

"Yeah," Gabriel agrees. "That's not exactly new information."

Sam rolls his eyes and looks around, trying to find a gas station that doesn't want to rip off weary travelers. The truck dings at him, protesting this idea, so he just sighs, pulling into the chevron even though he hates the price.

Gabriel sits up and leans his head on Sam's shoulder through the window while Sam fills the tank. Sam reaches up and runs his fingers through blond hair, kissing his cheek. Gabriel lets out a light breath, leaning into the touch.

He's a very affectionate creature, Sam notes, even though he's also kind of an ass.

Sam can live with that.

Once they're done with the gas station Gabriel needles at Sam until Sam just slams his head on the headrest at a red light and cries, "Fine! We'll stop at a hotel for the night then go to the Waffle House!"

Gabriel grins in victory and gives him a quick kiss, which hardly makes up for the irritation but somehow manages to make Sam a little less mad.

That is a trick that Sam will have to watch. If they're sticking together, he can't go around giving into Gabriel's demands when Gabriel offers kisses.

As it is, he's already given in.

They're sharing a queen this time, but that's okay, really. They haul their shit up four flights of stairs and as soon as Sam's got the door open Gabriel drops everything and plants face-first onto the bed. "Dude," Sam protests, kicking his suitcase out of the way.

Gabriel grumbles something into the pillow that Sam elects to ignore. He heads into the bathroom instead of talking to his… whatever Gabriel is. He's something.

Sam considers a shower for all of thirty seconds before he realizes that if he does that, he'll be too tired to go back out, so he decides against it and heads back into the room.

Gabriel is completely asleep, still in his clothes, a tuff of hair over his eyes and his breathing slow and even. A fond smile rises to Sam's mouth unbidden. He stands there for a minute, just looking.

"Alright," Sam mutters, walking over. "Gabriel?"

"Five more minutes," Sam thinks he hears. He chuckles.

"I just need you to get under the sheets at the very least. Pajamas if you want."

Gabriel lifts his head, bleary eyed. "M'kay," he mumbles.

It's the first time that Gabriel doesn't head into the bathroom to change. It shouldn't feel significant, but it does for some reason. Sam takes the opportunity to get changed as well, but not before he catches sight of the tattoo on Gabriel's shoulder blade. It's a relatively simple thing, just a set of wings, but Sam wonders what it means to Gabriel.

He doesn't want to ask right now, but he might at some point.

Gabriel pulls the sheets down and just drops back onto the bed. Sam maneuvers him so he's curled up next to him and Sam can just hold him.

It's so nice, having someone to just hold in the night.

After situating the two of them under the sheets, Sam drifts off.

…

They have Waffle House in the morning before they get going again. 

"We need more money," Sam says, counting out what they have while Gabriel's driving.

"How much do we have?"

"Just under two thousand. That won't go as far as you think."

"How the hell have we gone through two grand in just over a week?"

"Hotels and gasoline takes hundreds like a kid in a candy store, Gabriel."

"Aw, hell. Okay."

"Good thing is, bars aren't hard to find. And people are stupid."

"Yeah, they are," Gabriel agrees, nodding solemnly. "Well, we can keep going."

"Just figured I'd make you aware."

"Yeah. How did you survive?"

"Oh, a hotel every night is a luxury for me."

Gabriel shakes his head. "That sucks."

"You're telling me."

…

They find a bar that night.

Gabriel sits in a back corner booth with a rum and coke while Sam stumbles with a beer over to the pool table and a drunken smile that Gabriel knows is totally false.

Sam feels Gabriel's eyes on him all night. He clears a thousand out of pool, six hundred from darts, and another three out of the shuffleboard.

"How the hell did they not figure out what you were doing?"

"I have no idea," Sam says, "but it's nothing new at all." He pulls a solid gold watch out of his pocket. "We need a pawn shop."

Gabriel stares.

Sam smirks at him and drags him out of the bar after dropping a twenty on the table.

…

It's much faster to clear Oklahoma than it was Texas, but Kansas is no joke either. Gabriel spends most of the next day and half alternating between bemoaning his fate and sleeping in the passenger seat.

Sam mostly ignores him.

Gabriel is staring sleepily out the window during a long period of silence. It's all cornfields and has been for the past two hours, so Sam is going 130 on the highway because there's no one here and no room for cops on the side of the road anyway.

"Did you ever imagine something different?" Gabriel asks, still staring out the window with a sigh.

Sam glances over and frowns slightly. "Like what?"

"I dunno. House, wife, kids, and a dog?"

"Dean used to call that the 'apple pie life.' I used to. Long time ago. But I got it in my head that I was going to run away and I threw those dreams out the window because they weren't really realistic." Sam bites his lip. "I'm good where I am, though."

"So you don't still want that?"

"Not really. I wasn't really built for it, you know? I've been nomadic all my life, and even if I didn't choose it, I stayed in one place for about three weeks before I ran away with my brother, and both of us were antsy and freaked out by the end of it. So I don't know if I could ever manage any other life."

"I lived in a mansion," Gabriel confesses, like it's some shameful secret. "Never worried where I'd go to sleep, where my next meal would come from. I had everything I wanted at my fingertips, butlers and maids to go and get them. Seems a bit silly, now."

"Does it? Do you want that? Some kind of apple pie life?"

Gabriel shifts, leaning his head on his arm. "I don't know. I don't think so. I mean, I don't think I want this forever," he says, gesturing around, "but if I could never have anything else, I'd be okay."

"So, what? What happens in Alaska? Do we keep going, or not?"

"I don't know. I just kind of thought…"

"What?"

"I didn't think you'd still be here," Gabriel murmurs.

Sam looks at him, just for a moment. His posture is defeated, and his reflection in the glass of the window is pretty sad.

"I said this before, you know. Ball's in your court. You want me here? Awesome. I'll stay. Want me to go? I'll be gone."

Gabriel turns around. "So you don't have anything you want?"

"I'm a nomad, like I said. I'm okay alone, I'm okay with you. I mean, I'd rather stick around, but if you don't want me to, I won't bother you."

"I'd rather you stick around, too," Gabriel says.

Sam nods. "Okay."

"Okay."


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The border

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another sad one? Really? I'm terrible.

"Red or blue?"

"Blue. Cats or dogs?"

"Good god, what kind of question is that? Dogs."

"Had to ask."

"Pfft. Odd or even?"

"Even, I guess? What are you asking, there?"

"Numbers, gigantor, numbers."

"I hate numbers."

"Yeah, me too. Stupid question."

"Obviously."

"Uh. Disney or DreamWorks?"

"Disney."

"Good. You're not that bad, then."

"Fuck you."

Gabriel snorts with laughter, rolling his head back. He's finally, begrudgingly, eating some of the cereal Sam bought, but that's because Sam grew a pair and refused to pull over. Gabriel had grumbled about it but he's shut up now, and they've reached the point of boredom where car games seem like a good idea.

"Tattoos?" Gabriel asks next.

"Oh, yeah," Sam says. "I've got one on my chest, did you see it?"

Gabriel flushes. "Uh. No."

Sam rolls his eyes. "I half expected you to jump my pants as soon as I kissed you, but it's been nearly three weeks and nope, no moves from you. You're saying you haven't even looked?"

"Uh," Gabriel says again. "I-"

"Hey, it's cool, dude," Sam says, waving his hand. "I'm not expecting anything."

Gabriel relaxes against the seat, shoving more cereal into his mouth. "'Kay," he mumbles.

Sam can tell he's made his companion uncomfortable, so he makes an effort to change the subject. "Pens or pencils?" he asks, and he knows it's lame, but Gabriel relaxes, so Sam counts it as a success.

…

"Can we do something?"

Sam keeps rummaging through his duffle bag, pulling out everything for the Laundromat. He's already got Gabriel's stuff in a plastic bag next to him.

"Sammy?"

"Don't call me Sammy," Sam mutters automatically, pulling out another pair of boxers.

"Then answer me."

"What?"

"Oh my god," Gabriel groans, and Sam can tell that he's just thrown himself dramatically across the bed by the sound of the mattress and the quiet "oof," Gabriel emits. "Can we do something?"

"Like what?" Sam packs everything else into the bag and looks over his shoulder. "You coming?"

Gabriel glares at him but hauls his ass out of the bed, looking like Sam's asking the worst thing in the world. Sam, used to such behavior now, ignores it and walks to the door, holding it open for the drama queen.

Gabriel is the one who drives to the Laundromat.

They make it there in one piece. Gabriel is aware, now, that Sam doesn't leave until the washing and drying is done, so he just hops on top of a dryer and unwraps a lollipop he stole from the front desk. Sam shoves half their clothes into one washer and the other half in the washer next to it and inserts the appropriate amount of quarters.

"Like a zoo," Gabriel says. Sam looks at him, confused. Gabriel looks up like Sam's an idiot. "I've asked if we can do something like a hundred times now."

Sam remembers now. "Okay, one. You asking me twice is not a hundred times, Gabriel. Two. Where the fuck are we gonna get the money for a zoo? Or anything else?"

"Ugh, I don't care where we go!" Gabriel says, leaning back on the wall. Sam sinks into one of the chairs spread around the building. "It's just been driving and hotels and the occasional Wal-Mart or bar for a month."

"Well, we're nearly at the Canadian border, Gabriel. I thought you wanted to visit a whole bunch of cities in Canada?"

Gabriel repeats Sam's sentences under his breath with a frown on his face. Sam lets out a put-upon sigh, looking at the washing machine.

Gabriel has gotten into this mood a few times since he picked Sam up on the side of the road, and Sam hates this mood. It's incredibly easy to send Gabriel into a tizzy, make him upset enough to lose him to the bathroom for hours. Sam will call out to him a few times but there's never an answer until Gabriel has sulked successfully until he's damn well ready to come out or he's starving, whichever comes first. The only good thing is that Gabriel won't complain about anything at all the next day as an apology of sorts.

He's incredibly difficult in the meantime.

"I'm just saying we'll need money to do anything in Canada," Sam says eventually.

Gabriel sinks into the dryer with a dirty look directed at Sam, who feels like giving up.

"What do you want from me?" Sam demands, leaning forward. "Seriously?"

He gets a sigh. Gabriel presses his palms into his eyes, stretching somewhat. "I don't know," he mumbles. "I'm just tired."

"Me too," Sam says. "Look. We can stay here a few days to recuperate, okay? Driving eight to ten hours days sucks."

"Aren't you used to longer?" Gabriel asks.

Okay, now he's about to be self-deprecating.

"Yes," Sam says. "But just because I'm used to nineteen hour days and four hours of sleep doesn't mean I like it or that this isn't bad in its own special way."

"Ugh," Gabriel groans, letting his hands fall into his lap. "Staying sounds good, I guess."

"Okay," Sam says, crisis averted. Hopefully.

…

Yes, crisis was avoided. Once the laundry finished they headed back to the hotel, sat on the bed, and they haven't moved since.

They're watching some rom-com on the television with Gabriel between Sam's legs and leaning on his chest, their hands intertwined. Sam is more or less asleep, completely content, and it's the first time that he acknowledges to himself that he wants to keep this.

This stranger who isn't that much of a stranger anymore picked him up off the side of the road and is taking him to Alaska for no real reason; he wants to keep him.

Gabriel shifts so he can lean up for a kiss. It pulls Sam back to the here and now, so he takes his hand and rests it on the nape of Gabriel's neck, pulling him closer. Gabriel opens his mouth with a sigh, tilting his head. There is nothing rushed about this, nothing aggressive. It's because of that that Sam finds no rush in any kind of arousal that he feels. He doesn't push it.

They break the kiss. Gabriel's close, close enough that Sam could count his eyelashes if he wanted to. He doesn't know if Gabriel's looking for something, if there's something that he wants, so he just stays still, running his thumb along his hairline.

Whatever it is, Gabriel seems to find it, because he lets out a pleased hum and moves so he can go to sleep, dragging Sam down with him.

They're not under the sheets. They're not in their sleepwear. Sam doesn't really care.

…

Sam makes good on his word and they stay in that small town for three days.

Gabriel buys some new clothes and some books while they're there. Sam doesn't say anything, even though he doesn't see the point in the purchases.

"I've got seven shirts and two pairs of pants, Sam, and I get bored while you're driving, and you don't see the point?" Gabriel argues when Sam asks him why. Sam throws his hands up in defense, and Gabriel settles down.

…

Gabriel and Sam are holding hands while walking down the sidewalk, achingly domestic, and Gabriel drags him into some physic store on the edge of town.

Sam feels at peace as soon as they walk in the store, which isn't really anything new. He's known that he's connected to the world on a level most people never realize even exists for most of his life.

Gabriel seems to feel it too, and looks surprised that Sam follows so easily without protest.

"I dream of the future," Sam mumbles. "I always have."

"Really?" Gabriel asks, intrigued. "Did you dream of me, then?"

"Actually, yes. I couldn't see you very clearly, but I did see the moment when I first kissed you before I even met you."

Gabriel blinks in shock, but doesn't say anything since Sam drags him over to the pendulums and chakra stones. "Do you believe in this stuff?" Sam asks, pulling a simpler pendulum off the stand gently, more than aware of the spirit clinging to it.

Gabriel watches as Sam lets go of him to hover the pendulum over his flat palm. It starts spinning in a large circle immediately, causing Sam to smile. "I've never seen them work," Gabriel says. "I have no idea what any of this means, but I've always been drawn to it. My family leaned to angels, to God, but me? I guess paganism is more my style."

"What part?" Sam asks, holding onto the pendulum since it seems to like him and he likes it.

"Norse?" Gabriel says, sounding unsure. "It's called to me all my life."

Sam grins and points to a corner of the shop, where there's a few items and books pertaining to Norse magic. "See if you're right, then," he murmurs, and gives Gabriel a kiss and a push.

…

Sam buys new clothes and a few books and even a new pair of sneakers at Gabriel's urging, in addition to the pendulum. Gabriel found a pendant with Loki's sigil and hasn't taken it off once.

He hadn't been watching as closely as he probably should've been, because he has a sneaking suspicion that Gabriel stole said pendant.

He wouldn't be surprised.

…

Sam expected it to be different.

They cross the American-Canadian border around midnight once they leave.

It should've had some grand change, some obvious new sign (besides the obvious "Welcome to Canada!" sign at the border) that said, wow, they weren't in the United States anymore.

But there wasn't.

The highway was still surrounded by colored trees, too large to make any sense of, they still had to keep the brights on, and Sam, at least, felt no different.

Gabriel just sits there with his hands in his lap, staring ahead.

So Sam kept driving, trying to do the math in his head about the speed limit since everything was now in kilometers per hour instead of miles per hour. That had to be the most disorienting thing.

He did a double take the first time he saw a sign that declared the speed limit to be 100 before he realized.

…

"Okay, we really need a GPS or a map or something now," Sam says.

Gabriel shrugs.

Sam just looks at him, and Gabriel either doesn't notice or doesn't care because he doesn't take his eyes off the road.

"What's wrong?" he asks, voice gentle. "You've barely said anything since we left North Dakota."

"Nothing," Gabriel says, and turns off the exit that takes them west on another highway.

Sam isn't sure if he should push him or not, so he gives it one more shot before he vows to stay quiet. "Are you sure? You can talk to me, you know."

Gabriel's eyes flicker to him briefly. His jaw tightens.

Sam reaches out and takes Gabriel's hand, bringing it to his lips. Gabriel lets out a shaky breath.

"What happens in Alaska?" Gabriel asks, for the first time in a while.

Sam shrugs. "I don't know," he says. That hasn't changed.

Gabriel clearly isn't satisfied with that answer. He pulls his hand away.

"What do you want to happen in Alaska?" Sam asks, tilting his head.

Gabriel doesn't answer that one.

Sam sighs, and then he says, "I saw a lamp, last night."

The older man jolts, looking baffled by the random statement.

"It wasn't pretty by any means, looked kind of like what you'd see in your grandmother's house or something, with the peach shade and the tassel trim, you know. I hated it, actually. But I didn't hate the view behind it, which was a long stretch of grass, and in the distance, a forest. There were dogs in the yard and a cat next to the lamp on the table. And when I turned around, there was you."

Sam knows it was exactly what Gabriel needed to hear because he bursts into tears.

He reaches out and takes the wheel, guiding the truck to the curb. He pulls the brake and puts it in park, then pulls Gabriel into his arms. "I'm not going anywhere," Sam murmurs, rocking back and forth.

He's not sure what made Gabriel so susceptible to abandonment, but Sam doesn't intend to encourage those feelings.

Gabriel's clutching at him desperately, crying hard into his shoulder, and Sam feels a few tears on his own face. He swallows, then presses a kiss to Gabriel's head, holding him that much tighter.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it! Short, sweet, and to the point. Very much not what I intended, way too little angst for my usual tastes, but I like the way it turned out... and I guess I can live with the fluff.  
> Thanks, guys! You're all awesome!  
> Did you want me to add an explicit chapter after this? I can do that, but if you don't want to see it, I won't. Leave a comment, please, and let me know.

He's not sure what got into Gabriel, but he refuses to let Sam drive and just ignores everything he wanted to see in Canada.

Sam gives up.

He spends a whole bunch of time on his phone, being eerily silent for hundreds of miles. He still cuddles up to Sam at night, still wants kisses and hugs, but he doesn't seem to be interested in talking.

Sam doesn't like this mood either. He's too used to Gabriel's liveliness, telling of the ridiculous things he did while in high school, or random tidbits about his family "before they all sat down one day and had sticks shoved up so far up their asses that you can see them in the back of their mouths." Gabriel likes to make up stories on the dime. He'll be quiet and then see something - a weird looking tree, a creative ad on a billboard, someone in their car - and launch into an "I wonder…" story and carry on for hours.

So this silence is unsettling and Sam doesn't care for it. Not at all.

He doesn't even sing along to the radio. Sam has learned his favorite songs over the past five weeks and they play without Gabriel's surprisingly excellent singing voice. Sam's heart kind of breaks a little each time.

…

So when Gabriel slams the bathroom door open while Sam's in the shower, Sam is understandably shocked. "Sam!"

"Oh my god!" Sam cries, grabbing onto the handle in the shower to avoid falling over. "Gabriel?"

"Look, look, look!"

Gabriel actually yanks the curtain back. Sam yelps and tries to cover himself with the towel on the toilet seat despite the fact that soap is still in his hair. "It's like in your dream," Gabriel breathes, and shows him the website he's got pulled up on his phone.

"Dude," Sam protests. "I'm kind of in the middle of something, here."

"What?" Gabriel asks, looking up. Then his eyes widen and a brilliant pink spreads over his cheeks and his ears. "Oh my god, I can't believe I just-"

He scurries out the door, shutting it behind him.

Sam closes his eyes and takes several deep breaths. He throws the towel on the floor and pulls the curtain back into place, finishing his shower a lot faster than he intended to originally.

When he steps out, Gabriel glances up then ducks his head, still looking mortified. "Dude, it's okay," Sam reassures, using his towel to dry his hair. "We're living out of each other's pockets anyway. Can't tell you how many times I've been walked in on. It's cool."

Gabriel coughs, grinning a bit. "That must've been awkward."

"Oh, you have no idea. But at least I wasn't doing anything. My brother used to - oh man, I don't even want to think about it."

Gabriel's smiling properly, now.

"What did you want to show me?"

"Oh!" Gabriel pats the bed next to him, messing with his phone. "Com'ere."

Sam obliges, wrapping his arm around Gabriel's shoulders as he sits down. "Look."

Sam takes the phone and scrolls over the page. Gabriel tucks himself closer into Sam's hold and points. "See, one floor, only 900 square feet but that's okay… huge yard, like you said. With your skill for conning money, we could probably just buy it outright."

Sam grins, laughing lightly. He presses a kiss to Gabriel's temple. "You asking me to move in with you?"

He looks up, resting his hand on Sam's chest. "Maaaybe," he says, biting back a smile.

Sam raises his eyebrows. "Guess we're going to need more money."

"Is that a yes?"

"Uh, yeah, dude. Course I'll move in with you."

Gabriel laughs and laughs, leaning up to press happy kisses to Sam's mouth.

…

Sam and Gabriel raid every bar they come across for the next thousand miles.

Between Sam's drunken antics and Gabriel's card playing, Gabriel turned out to be correct: they gather enough to pay for the little cabin-esque place that Gabriel found. It's not really a cabin, since those are made out of wood and therefore terribly difficult to deal with in Alaska, but it's close enough to it with the feel.

Gabriel practically vibrates with energy now that Sam has agreed to really stay, in a way that's substantial, that he can believe. It's like all that time he was quiet, all the energy was stored somewhere and now it's coming out all at once.

He talks and talks, turns up the radio with the windows down. It's almost unbearably cold now that it's nearly December but Gabriel doesn't seem to care. Sam cranks up the heat, wraps them both in blankets, and just lets him be.

Sam wakes up alone when they're about two hundred miles away from the town they're headed to.

He sits up, confused and worried, because Gabriel is a heavy sleeper and Sam is pretty certain he'd sleep through a bomb going off. He has to practically drag him out of bed each day. Gabriel has started to take advantage of that, letting Sam carry him all the way to the truck bridal style.

Gabriel opens the door to the motel room, bringing with him a gust of freezing air and some snow. "Gabriel?"

He jumps a little, looking up. He smiles. "Morning, Sam," he says. "Guess what!"

"Hm?"

"Called the realtor for the house. Offered to pay for it all in cash, just like we talked about, and she's got the papers drafted for us to sign as soon as we get there."

Sam's heart leaps, and he beams at Gabriel, hopping out of bed to pull him close. "You're amazing!" he says, spinning them around and nuzzling Gabriel's hair. Gabriel hugs him back, laughing in delight.

"I'm so excited, Sam," he murmurs. He rests his forehead on Sam's chest, tightening his hold. "Aren't you excited?"

"Fuck yes, baby," Sam answers. "Never been more excited for anything." He pulls back and forces Gabriel to meet his eyes. "I'm sharing my first home with you. Never been more excited for anything."

There's a new light in Gabriel's eyes, now, one that Sam's never seen before.

…

Gabriel makes him stop every few hours in a different town. He sends him to a bar to get money and disappears.

Sam doesn't exactly understand why until he realizes that the bed of the truck actually has stuff in it, now, things for a home. Simple things. Pillows and quilts, a nicer dining set, a few dismantled chairs with a matching dismantled table. They're all resting on a mattress. There's a few framed pictures from a goodwill, salt and pepper shakers, more books. There's some stationary and pens from a Wal-Mart. He's got bins back there, where more stuff is sitting. He thinks he can see a brand new shower curtain.

Sam's smiling stupidly at it when Gabriel finally hustles his way out of their latest hotel room. He freezes.

Sam glances up. "Ever think to consult me on this?" he asks. "My place, too."

Gabriel shrugs, looking a little nervous. "It was cheap."

"Oh, I know that, dude. Just teasing. We're going to need more, but I'm glad you're getting a head start."

Gabriel grins, walking to stand next to Sam and link their fingers together. "We'll get more once we have the contract signed."

"Yeah. Of course."

…

They make it into the real-estate office two weeks before the new year.

The bell jingles when Sam opens the door to let Gabriel in, and then again when he shuts it behind him. A man looks up from behind the desk and smiles. "How can I help you?" he asks.

"We're looking for Jane. She said she had papers for us to sign," Gabriel explains, leaning on the counter.

Sam wraps his arm around Gabriel's waist. "Oh, yes. Okay. I'll be right back," the man says. He stands and walks off with an empty coffee cup.

Gabriel leans up for a kiss. "This is going to be so much fun," he mutters.

"Are you Gabriel Novak?" a woman asks, coming out of a side room.

Gabriel drops back down to his feet and nods excitedly. "Yes, that's me. This is my boyfriend, Sam Winchester. He's going to cosign with me."

"Excellent," she says. "Well, I'm Jane Adams, so I'll be taking care of that contract for you. Come with me."

The paper is stark white with lots of black, simple print.

It feels so good to rest his hand on the small of Gabriel's back as he signs, and then to take the pen and scrawl his own signature.

…

It's freezing.

Sam heads right for the heater and turns it on immediately while Gabriel punches in a code Jane gave them for the security system.

There's nothing in the house at all except for wood flooring and standard appliances.

It's small enough that Sam can see every room in the house from the front door.

The yard is overgrown and the whole house needs to be repainted.

Gabriel tucks himself into Sam's side with a smile. "Guess we've got a project," he says.

Sam leans down for a kiss. "Guess so," he murmurs, cupping his cheek and sealing their lips together.

It's far from perfect, but it's theirs, so Sam can live with that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any requests for my next project? I don't currently have much... just a Merlin fic.


End file.
